tuckermisra

So a lot of our trip has us hitting up places somewhat randomly. We made a stop in Onomich because we had read a blog on festivals in Japan and were intrigued be the lantern festivals. This one just happened to be midway between Hiroshima and Sukoku and fell right on the day we needed to travel so it felt like happenstance that we should follow. As we approached on the train it was quieter and the skies were clear, no wind at all. You would not know that typhoon no. 19 was crossing over Japan hours down the coast. We arrived after sunset so a few lanterns were already set up at the train station. There were tons of volunteers handing out pamphlets and maps and it was crowded, but not overwhelming. We made our ... read more

The only thing worse than being sick is being sick and having to travel. At least it wasn't an airplane with a headcold. So getting to Naoshima sucked. It also kinda sucked being there because we weren't prepared for literally everything to be sold out or booked up. We arrived a little before noon and found ourselves completely locked out of our hostel with no place to leave luggage and they were totally nonresponsive. There were no bike rentals until the next day either. So we made reservations, but we were kinda stuck because we wanted to go check some stuff out, but the last checkin for our hostel was 7pm and the earliest 4pm and headed out we risked missing both. This is particularly because the public transportation is TERRIBLE on the island and between ... read more

Tokyo! This city is pretty amazing. We kicked off our travels with a week here because I like, LIKE cities. Protip: sumimasin is the best word ever. Learn it and use it. We flew in separately (Susan from Bali and myself from NYC) to Narita. I had purchased an orange for good tidings for our trip intending to share with Susan, but we forgot to eat it before she left so I brought it with me to Japan. It was confiscated and quarantined. I didn't know citrus was such a contentious fruit. Turning in our vouchers for our JR Pass and ticket on the Narita Express was a breeze. Line was longish but moved quickly. There are several 7-11 ATMs at the airport, I suggest pulling out cash immediately. The pasmo card (for Tokyo Metro) can ... read more

London in the summertime is HOT. Who knew? Not I, said the cat. All my dreams of dreary, old London were crushed by brilliant rays of light : There wasn't a single unpleasant day the entire time we were in London which was, honestly, pretty much a disappointment for me. Also, by this point, I was paracetmol-ed out from overmedicating/had re-exasperated my injury at Glasto and there just wasn't a whole lot of will to get out and walk around the city, especially in the oppressive heat. No hostel for us here! we were hosted in a friend's flat in Sheperd's Bush and it was SO NICE to have a bed under our backs. Super easy to travel into town from there. We didn't do too much, caught up with one of Susan's college buddies and ... read more

We had a flight from Naples to London Gatwick Saturday evening. We caught an after train from Paestum to Naples and then took the local bus to the airport. You can get tickets for the bus at the tobacco shops in the train station. They were like 3 euros a pop. The walk to the bus stop is super sketchy. I barely recommend it during daylight hours and wouldn't recommend it at all after dark. You exit out the front of the station and there's a plaza out front across the street, you will go to the side with the McDonald's and cross and walk straight until you reach the end where there's another plaza with a bunch of busses, it's also by a McDonald's. The airport bus is the furthest away from the curb. If ... read more